For the last several months, our sun has had many firsts when it comes to her activity; and active she truly has been. From the largest coronal holes in memory, the biggest sun spots in decades, the most massive solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in a generation. It feels and our data appear to point to something bigger. At a minimum, it begs the question, “what is going on with our sun?”

Most recently, an X1 solar flare emitted Saturday which caused radio blackouts, along with satellite and GPS disruptions. Although there were a few subsequent CMEs, most of the material was not Earth-bound. In the coming days we expect much more, but how much more?

We at the CME Research Institute are trying to find out if these events are isolated or are they pointing to another Carrington-like event, which as we have warned in the past, would be so detrimental to our Earth’s technology that we would literally be brought back to a new Stone Age.